Dr. Derrick Fries, of Clarkston, is not someone who floated through life. His nomination to the Sailboating World International Hall of Fame proves that.
Being a three-time All-American sailor at Michigan State University was remarkable.
Winning 15 North American and national sailing titles over four decades of competition was quite a feat as well.
With six world sailing championships, his cup of achievement surely runs over.
But Fries? contribution as an educator to the sport is what makes his case for the hall of fame so compelling.
Fries? third book ‘Start Sailing Right,? originally published in 1988, is in it’s fifth edition and has sold over one million copies.
‘I think the reason (Start Sailing Right) did so well was we broke the sport down into a series of problem solving steps,? Fries said.
When writing the book, Fries wanted to show that a sport, often perceived as inaccessible, can be easy to get into.
‘One of the problems with sailing is that it is a delayed gratification sport. You can go out on the tennis court and hit a ball over the net and have gratification. With sailing, you have to get to the site, you have to rig the boat, you have to get your life jacket on ? you have a lot of logistical stuff going on,? said Fries. ‘We tried to streamline some of that logistical stuff and make it easy for people to pick up sailing. We tried to make this book more sensible and easier to understand, and that’s probably why, in a nutshell, it took off.?
Fries? own sailing instruction was delivered through hands-on experience growing up in Waterford.
‘I was fortunate to live on Watkins Lake. My parents were sailors and they got me involved in sailing. So at age six, I started crewing for my dad. Back then, there wasn’t a thousand video games, we sat on the lake all day and did water sports,? Fries said.
Long days on the lake honed Fries? sailing prowess to the point where at the age of 16 he started racing competitively.
‘I became addicted to competition,? said Fries. ‘In some ways it is a total life style for me. In some ways it is a stress manager.?
Fries won his first world championship at the age of 21 at the Sunfish World Championship in 1975.
While the competition drives him, Fries is knowledgable of sailing’s history and committed to exposing the sport to larger audiences.
‘You had a sport, 75 years ago, that was aristocratic, Anglo-Saxon and Caucasian. One of my biggest satisfactions is, that with the individual smaller fiberglass boats, we have the technology moving faster than the sociology,? Fries said.
Even with fiberglass boats requiring a fraction of the money previously necessary to enjoy the sport, Fries felt sailing was held back by the stigma of the old school.
When he wrote ‘Start Sailing Right,? Fries spoke directly to people who had no experience. The book was a departure from his previous two books: ‘Successful Sunfish Sailing? and ‘Single-Handed Racing: High Performance Sailing Techniques.?
‘I wrote (my first two books) as a racer. I wrote Start Sailing Right as an educator,? Fries said.
Even Fries? concept for the cover, featuring a female sailing alongside a male, was designed to spread the sport to a new demographic. In the final meetings with the publishing committee, he insisted the woman be left on the cover in order to help spread the sport.
In his writing, Fries strives to meld the two major aspects of sailing and make them accessible to beginner or novice sailors.
‘There’s the part of the sport that’s physically demanding and then there’s the part of the sport where there is a lot of strategy and thinking and analysis,? Fries said.
Part of Fries? fervor for diversifying and spreading the sport is tied to his enjoyment ? but at his heart he is a born educator, a man who revels in allowing other people to achieve success.
?(Teaching) is a challenge. It’s kind of like single handed racing. You have to be willing to work and you have a pile of stuff that needs to get done,? Fries said.
Fries graduated from MSU in 1975 with degrees in geography and physical education and a minor in math. He knew he wanted to teach, and at the time there was a high demand for special education instructors, so he went to Oakland University for a masters in special education. In 1993, Fries completed the University of Michigan’s educational administration doctoral program.
With a full set of degrees in tow, Fries was an assistant principal in a number of school districts before settling in Avondale in 1996. In 2001, under Fries? watch as principal, Avondale Middle School was named a National Exemplary Blue Ribbon School.
In 2003, he was named the Michigan Association of Middle School Educator’s Principal of the Year in region seven. Later that year, he assumed his current post as deputy superintendent of Avondale schools.
‘Even though now as deputy superintendent I’m not directly involved with kids, I hope that I can greatly support the staff and the teachers to do their job so they can help the kids better. That’s the satisfaction you walk away with,? Fries said.
A Clarkston resident since 1991, Fries enjoys the natural setting the area affords.
‘There’s so many lakes around, that really makes it a great sailing town,? Fries said, who frequents the waters of Deer Lake.
Fries lives with his wife of 11 years, Katie and children: Drew, 15; Liam, 7 and Aidan, 5.